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tv   Closing Bell With Maria Bartiromo  CNBC  November 16, 2012 4:00pm-5:00pm EST

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coming up in a moment. stay tuned for the second hour of the "closing bell." thanks, guys. now i have that song in my mind. anyway, welcome back to the "closing bell." i'm mandy drury in for maria bartiromo. bill geriffeth is on his way back. stocks rise higher on new hopes for a fiscal cliff deal. this is how we finish the day on wall street as everything is settle up and settling down. the dow is up by 44 points. the nasdaq up by 16. the s&p 500 joining us there gaining 0.5% or about six points. >> yes, i ran fast, mandy. earlier today, john boehner, the speaker of the house, spoke. the markets spiked. as you hear this sound bite, we're going to show you the dow intraday, what it did, and where you see the spike. it's a spike of more than 100 points. that's when speaker boehner spoke.
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listen to this. >> i believe that we can do this and avert the fiscal cliff that's right in front of us today. >> is this really what led to today's midday turn around, or was it something else? let's talk about that. quincy crosby joins us. mark spellman and kevin carone. quincy, is it that simple? they came out, they used the word constructive, framework, corner stone, all those positive words, and the market took off. >> absolutely. i was watching the body language when they finished up. they walked together. they didn't separate. the market kept making gains. it was that immediate. >> mark, do you agree? >> yeah, i think it was important. we've been looking for good news. the fact that everyone's heels aren't dug in quite as badly, it's good news and what otherwise has been a bad news market. >> kevin, i want to ask you, though, even if we get a deal,
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okay, great. tick, check. like the elections, check. we've still got a lot of longer-term fundamental problems. i don't know. just doing the simple math here, it seems to me we have tax hikes in a slow growth environment. that isn't a great environment for stocks, is it? >> yeah, i think what this did, or this more conciliatory tone takes some of the tail risk off the table as far as an immediate shock earlier in the year. you're right. there are some significant problems that are going to have to be dealt with. just because you get a compromise doesn't mean you're not going to have a cutback in the deficit. there's a lot of causation. >> you think this market is beginning to transition away from all the liquidity of the quantitative easing. >> no question about it. the market is off not quite 10%. if you look a little deeper there, you see stocks that are
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off 30, 40%. i do think there's some opportunity there is. >> like which ones? can you name names, mark? >> sure, absolutely. intel. it's a very controversial, contrarian name right now. they've lowered earnings, however, even on those lowered earnings, you're talking about a stock less than nine times -- >> but intel was the best performing dow component this week. >> absolutely. it has a yield of about 4.5%. it has $3 in cash per share on the balance sheet. that's a good profile to make money in stocks. >> quincy, you're looking to buy right now too, aren't you? >> look how utilities performed today after a selloff. you're seeing the dollar strengthening. you're seeing how the currency market is factoring in. basically, less stimulus. we're moving back to fundamentals. the market is going to have to deal with that. >> what would you buy on fundamentals? >> we would be looking at health
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care, pharmaceutical. we would be looking at some of the financials as well as the industrials. take a look at how the strims have been performing despite the selloff. they're telling you they want to move higher. they have been beaten up. absolutely beaten up. we would be looking at industrials. >> you said like a rendered mule. kevin, how are you managing portfolios right now? >> well, we have a very cautious posture at the moment, but we're very interested in the fact that valuations have gotten better very quickly. so we're making lists, and we're looking to buy companies that are consistently profitable with great balance sheets. tech folg is very interesting. there have been a lot of harsh corrections there, and things are becoming somewhat more interesting. so we're looking at technology and some other areas where we can have good visibility. >> what else apart from technology is on your list? >> i think some of the internet providers, some of the hardware providers have been hit particularly hard. we think that those areas
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provide not only very good balance sheets, but we think that as the market recovers next year, as the global economy eventually begins to turn around, we see better demand. ultimately, that's going to endure those kind of companies. >> apple has become a proxy for the market. market down 10%. apple down 10% or more at this point. would you buy apple here? >> i would. this is coming from a guy who hasn't owned much apple at all. right around here, again, sounds like a theme here. we have a tech stock selling at about a nine times earnings. believe it or not, it has a 2% yield. >> you're not concerned about some of the reasons why it dropped, mark? >> no, there's a whole list of reasons. i think the first one with the most weight in my mind is it's a proxy for the market. it's the biggest stock. if you don't like stocks, you can't possibly like apple in my mind.
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i think that's exacerbated the down trend in apple shares. >> quincy, would you buy it here? >> we do like it. you're going to see buyers start to come in. also this notion of special dividends for a host of the tech stocks before the new year begins. share buy backs. potentially from apple. i just want to mention, take a look at fixed income for the portfolio as well. you saw high yields selling off. you've seen cancellations of new offerings. high yield has been pulling back, perhaps a canary in the coal mine. if we get through this and continue to see growth, i think you'll see some very interesting opportunities in high yield. >> kevin, going into next week, what do we need to watch out for as an investor? when we come into work on monday morning. >> i hate to say it, but i think it's going to be more of the same. market's going to turn on every word. >> say it isn't so. >> no, it's going to be the big issue. as we turn the calendar next year, more on the fiscal cliff. we're going to be looking at banking union and the timetable. all of this is going to be very
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important. ultimately, it's going to come down to earnings. fundamental are going to reign. in the short term, this is the single defining moment as far as fiscal policy and one of the biggest fiscal thrusts we've seen in generations. we're at a tipping point now. >> let's hope they can rise above. >> front and center next week. >> thank you all very much. appreciate your thoughts on the markets. have a good weekend and holiday. mandy, my favorite quote of the week now about the markets. the industrials were acting like a rented mule. >> the industrials were acting like a rented mule? >> that's what you just said. >> no, beaten like a rented mule. >> they were beaten like a rented mule. well, i love your australian expressions. >> anyway, should we turn over? >> let's do that. it was another week for the bulls. bob breaks down the week's winners and losers maybe with some italian expressions. >> beaten mule. that's the way the stock market feels, i think.
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hey, guys, we ended at the highs for the day. it was a nice close to a down week. let's look at the major sectors. still settling out, but the dow is down 1. -- well, look at the dividend payers here. 1. % decline in the dow industrials. 2.5% decline for the week in some other sectors. overall, a tough time there as the s&p, nasdaq, and russell 2000. now put up the dividend payers. down 1.2% on utilities. ugly for some of these dividend payers for a while. even the junk bond etfs were paying off. the dow loses for the week. once again, the big problem for the dow this year, big tech stocks like microsoft and hewlett-packard. ge, caterpillar. this has been weighing down the dow for months now. it's continuing. how about the vix? a real drop in volatility towards the close, near the lows
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for the week. they were selling protection for most of this week. finally, a very disappointing ipo today. a lot of hope for this one. telecom stock priced at $15. look there, guys, what happened at the close. the stock simply collapsed, closing at $12.34. that's a disappointment. guys, back to you. >> yeah, a lot of ipos recently being shelled. thank you very much, bob. let's send it over to jackie deangelis for a quick market flash. >> we've been keeping an eye on shares of a public services ticker rsg. a little more than 8 million shares or $218 million worth of stock. insider monkey pointing out that the buyer cascade investments is the investment company responsible for managing the majority of bill gates' wealth. they also highlight cascade owns over 23% of the shares outstanding in his company. the stock price closed up 1.5%. bill. >> all right, jackie. thank you very much. we're just getting started, so don't go anywhere, right? >> indeed.
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we have much more ahead on this jam-packed edition of the "closing bell." coming up, confidence gain. >> if we get over the cliff, we don't have a deal, and a market doesn't anticipate that we're actually going to be so stupid as to go over the cliff, then i think you'll see the market really crash. >> will a dive off the cliff to irreparable harm to the economy and investor confidence? td ameritrade ceo is here exclusively next. plus, delta is going old school, literally. the carrier saving big bucks by refurbishing older jets instead of buying new. how much does age really matter when it comes to safety? and twinkies may not have a shelf life after all. hostess going out of business after a showdown with union members. but are workers really better off trading a job with fewer benefits for the unemployment line? it's all ahead on the "closing bell."
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i've been a superintendent for 30 some years at many different park service units across the united states. the only time i've ever had a break is when i was on maternity leave. i have retired from doing this one thing that i loved. now, i'm going to be able to have the time to explore something different. it's like another chapter.
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well, leaders in washington today calling talks on the fiscal cliff constructive, but not everyone is buying that
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anything is getting accomplished. >> yeah, not just -- last week td ameritrade's ceo warned the cliff hanger would keep the markets muted into the new year. it's no wonder the major average is down about 5% since the close of trade on november 6th. fred joins us now exclusively. are you hopeful, at least, that we get a deal before the end of the year? >> i don't know if we'll get a deal by the end of the year. i'm hopeful we'll get a deal, and i'm hopeful our political leaders will work through this. i think the hard part is getting it done before the lame duck session. >> can we afford in the to get a deal before the end of the year? >> you know, i don't know. you never know. i think you can always gets through it. there's many ways to get through it. i think the market is really looking for incredible plan here. it's probably a combination of spending cuts and tax increases,
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but it has to be one that helps in the short term but has over the long term deals with the fiscal deficit. >> i have facts and figures telling me your average client trades per day still 19% in october. clearly, a lot of retail investors out there sitting this out. they're not wanting to be involved until we get clarity. when we get a deal, hopefully when we get a deal, is that going to unlock the retail investor? will that bring them back? >> i don't know if just a deal would bring tell back. i think what's happening right now is the retail investor, and i think many businessmen, are looking for some leadership in washington, and they want to see some direction on the economy. there is a lot of money on the sidelines. companies are full of -- you know, flush with cash. you have retail investors all in riskless assets. so everybody is waiting to see where this is going to go. are we going back into recession, or are we going to get our act together and show some leadership in washington? have a plan that gives people confidence to invest.
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if that happens, i'm pretty confident we're going to see the retail investor come back. >> let's talk about how your strategy in the meantime, as we make it through this uncertain period of time, walt bettinger of schwab said they're trying to make it more attractive for people looking at a tax portfolio. what about td aa mmeritrade? >> we'll bide our way through it. we'll get a solution one way or the other within a reasonable period of time. we're just staying focused on organic growth and biding our time, keeping our balance sheet strong, being ready to move either way. i'll remind you, the last time we went through this was the debt ceiling debate. >> that was no fun. >> that was no fun. >> august of 2011. >> the reality is that at td
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ameritrade, we had the best trading month in our history. >> you had volatility then. not right now though. that's the problem. >> right now it's dead. >> would head count reduction at td ameritrade be something that you may have to consider if, indeed, for example, we continue to see the retail investors sitting on the sidelines and your volume keeps on dropping? >> you can never rule that out. i think right now to take drastic action right now i don't think makes sense. it could go the other way. so we'll just bide our time. you know this is going to get solved one way or the other within a reasonable period of time or not. i don't see the point in making the decision here because of the uncertain uncertainty. wait until you have greater certainty of which direction this market is going to go and whether the retail investor is going to come back or not. i think you move to that stuff when you've said i give up. >> the reality with the debt happening over us anyway, it's not going to go away over night. as one guest pointed out before, cliff is maybe the wrong metaphor to use because it's not
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something that happens overnight. we don't just suddenly back away from this and everything gets solved. having said that, there are plenty of smart people out there, bill gross among them, who feel the returns in the equity market are going to be muted for the next foreseeable future in the next several years here as the fed continues to pump liquidity into the markets and the deficit problem continues to plague us here. so if that's the case, what brings the small guy back here, you know? >> yeah, but i do believe -- and while that is a point of view, i think that assumes they really don't tackle the fiscal deficit. i think the u.s. economy, there's so much money on the sidelines, both in business and retail investors. it wouldn't take much positive momentum. i don't think the bar is that high that people -- you know, they really want to get back to business. i think -- >> but we just have to accept less than we would have gotten historically. >> oh, absolutely. i think right now it's still going to be a long, slow recovery. i don't think it's going to magically come back and shoot and a everything is going to go.
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it still will be a long, slow recovery. we've come to a difficult crisis. it's a financial crisis. they take time to heal. right now it's about confidence. we really need that leadership and some kind of sentiment in a direction will be helpful. >> real quick, maria bartiromo was speaking with the charles schwab ceo earlier this week. they're cutting their etf fees, which puts pressure on everybody in the industry. will you be doing the same? >> well, we don't manufacture etfs. we have what we call an etf supermarket. people can buy up to 100 different etfs commission free, so they already have a good deal for from us. cutting them and giving them a deal, that's nice. it's kind of irrelevant to us as a broker. >> always good to see you. >> thank you so much. >> nice tie, by the way. air raid sirens in jerusalem and telaviv.
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we're going to go live to israel on this escalating issue. also up next, do you care how old the plane you're flying on is? delta airlines is betting you won't. we'll have that story coming up next. later on, it could be a sunny day for lionsgate as the "twilight" movie franchise takes a final bow with the release of the last film in the series. we're going to tally its mega box office take coming up. [ female announcer ] e-trade was founded on the simple belief that bringing you better technology helps make you a better investor. with our revolutionary e-trade 360 dashboard you see exactly where your money is and what it's doing live. our e-trade pro platform offers powerful functionality that's still so usable you'll actually use it. and our mobile apps are the ultimate in wherever whenever investing. no matter what kind of investor you are,
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at delta airlines, what is old is, well, it's new again. the airline is buying 137 used airplanes, which it will then repurr bifurbish and add to its fleet. they say it's safe, but some are nervous about a older planes in a commercial fleet. >> absolutely. joining us with their take is aviation analyst michael boyd and our very own phil lebeau. thank you for being here. safety, obviously, is the first thing that comes to mind here. we're talking about these older planes.
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is that something we need to worry about? >> go ahead, michael. you go. >> no, we don't. these aren't older airplanes. they're used airplanes. these mdas, these are newer than some airplane as that delta has. they're just inexpensive to get. they're not ancient airplanes. >> what's the strategy here, phil? why do this rather than buying a new jet? >> well, richard anderson has long had this strategy. he knows he takes these planes, and if he properly maintains them and works them efficiently through their network, he can be more profitable than going out and placing a multibillion dollar order for new aircraft and working them into your system over a number of years. the numbers work out. it bears it out if you look at the bottom line and the returns that delta has been receiving over the last couple of years. >> what about fuel efficiency? are they actually saving on fuel? obviously, with some of these
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newer planes, right, they're more fuel efficient. the older planes maybe not so. >> that's correct, but these are not older airplanes. they have the same fuel burn as a 737, but the acquisition cost is less. they already have md-90 new zealand -- mid-90s in their fleet. southwest decided they had some they couldn't use after a merger. em.ta is g a good deal these are pretty much at the top of the pile. >> so good deal. maybe higher profitability if they're using a cheaper plane. does that mean lower fares for us consumers? >> i don't think so. i think ultimately when you're talking about fares, that's driven by other factors. certainly aircraft plays a role in terms of which route they're on and how profitable you can make that route. at the end of the day, it's the market driving that. these airplanes, they play a
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role in this, but it's not going to be the determining factor. >> will the market, michael, drive other airlines to do the same as delta? >> no, this is a one off. there's no other situation like this for other carriers. american doesn't have this option. neither does alaska airlines. don't dp don't expect it to happen. >> phil, i'm reminded that delta bought that refinery earlier this year. couple that with the purchase of these used jets, i mean, they're really thinking out of the box. >> that's the approach richard anderson has been taking. he knows and his entire team knows and everybody in the airline industry realizes jet fuel prices are likely only to go higher from here. you have to look at those areas where you can save 5%, 6%, 7%. does that mean buying a refinery and boosting the jet fuel output and saving a little per gallon?
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maybe. that's the philosophy they're incorporating. >> okay. gentlemen, thank you for joining us today. well, is the bakery union nuts? more than 18,000 hostess employees now out of a job thanks to 5700 striking union members. we're going to debate whether it was a smart idea to call management's bankruptcy bluff. that's coming up. also ahead, profiting from poverty, but in a good way. we're going to talk to the head of a microfinance organization about his group's mission to provide financial tools to the poorest people around the globe. and still doing it for profit, we should point out. and up next, the latest on the escalating conflict between israel and hamas militants. we're going to go live to tel aviv for an update. don't go away. [ female annou] today, it's not just about who lives in the white house, it's about who lives in the yellow house, the green, and the apartment house, too. today we not only honor the oval office,
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the violence in the middle east is escalating as both jerusalem and tel aviv come under rocket fire from hamas. ayman is here with the latest.
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>> it's evening now here in gaza. the only thing you can hear in this very dark night are the israeli drones flying above. every once in a while, we hear the sounds of the explosions from the air strikes. that's how it's been for the past two nights. we've also been hearing the sounds of rocket fire into southern israel. it gives you the sense of the escalating viee ining violence. there's no indication that a truce is in the works. palestinians say they will remain defiant, even in the face of increased israeli presence along the gaza border. there have been thousands of soldiers called up from their reserves. so many people say it's an ominous sign that, in fact, a ground invasion is imminent. really, the concern among many people, including international organizations here, that if, indeed, there was an escalation of violence or perhaps a ground invase, that it's going to lead to urban warfare. when that occurs in a densely populated area, it's the
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civilian population that bears the brunt to have because of the nature of the lay of the land. there's great deal of concern, a great deal of anxiety and fear among ordinary palestinians. we spent the day today speaking to palestinians in the market, getting a sense from them as to what they feel. they really describe a tremendous amount of anxiety and fear about what lies ahead in the comes daying. back to you. >> stay safe and thank you very much for keeping us updated. in the meantime in washington, former cia director david petraeus reportedly told lawmakers during a meeting this morning that the agency did suspect the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in libya was a terrorist attack from the start, but somehow that line got removed from an early report. nbc's steve handelsman is in washington with details. >> this wasn't a hot seat for the former cia director. instead, he got a very, very warm welcome. lawmakers praised his work. they allowed him to avoid reporters. they're clearly sorry to see him
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go. petraeus, they said, apologize the for having to resign. he didn't really open the door to a lot of new information, we're told, from people who were in the meeting. in the testimony, in the hearings, didn't open the door to a lot of new information about why the disaster occurred. the cia knew there were threats in benghazi, knew the state department had stepped up security. but exactly why the disaster occurred, in the clear from petraeus' testimony. but he did shed a little light on the political controversy, about what u.n. ambassador, obama u.n. a.m. bas door susan rice, said or did not say five days after the tragedy when she went on the sunday talk shows. nbc's "meet the press" specifically, and denied there was al qaeda involvement saying the earlier stories that there had been a riot gone wrong is what u.s. intelligence still
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believed was the case in libya. petraeus testified, according to those who heard his testimony, that the cia, in fact, believed immediately that al qaeda and another terrorist group was involved and wrote for public consumption some bullet points, which included that assumption by the cia. they went to other agencies quickly so they could get out publicly. five days later, rice denied al qaeda involvement. peter king, the republican from new york, said somebody took out the reference to al qaeda, which had been dumbed down, if you will, to the word extremist and then virtually eliminated from this public, nonclassified report. so, bill, the controversy continues. did susan rice say something publicly that she never the cia didn't believe? did she do it because she wanted to do some political work for president obama, who it's rumored wanted to name her secretary of state were he to be
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re-elected and was running on a "i snuffed out al qaeda" platform. bill, those questions remain unanswered. petraeus insisted there was no cia cover-up and no pressure on the cia to try to clean the al qaeda involvement out of the cia's report. bill. >> mystery deepens tonight. steve handelsman there in washington. thanks very much. >> a lot of questions with answers unfilled. thank you very much. ding dongs, no more. twinkies are toast. >> did you ever have a twinkie? >> i had my first one this week. >> i thought so. you had that whole closet there. >> i did not grow up with those iconic brands in australia. well, hostess brands is going out of business because one-third of its 18,000 workers failed to reach a deal with management. why did the union give up lower paying jobs for no jobs at all? we'll have that debate next. >> looking forward to that. also ahead, did you camp out to see the last "twilight"
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there are many facet tos toe hostess story. first, it's a sad day for snack lovers because the company that makes twinkies is closing its doors. so how are consumers reacting to the news about it? as you would expect. jane wells is at a grocery store in los angeles with the story. >> reporter: bill, more valuable than gold. people are more worked up about this than the fiscal cliff. in the two hours since i reported, people have bought all the twinkies. one guy just came in and bought almost all the ding dongs, plus some cup cakes. listen. >> what are you buying? >> all the hostess products i can. >> why? >> because somebody called me and told me they would give me $100 a box if i could go to the store and get them for them. >> really? >> no, i'm not kidding, yeah. >> how long do you think these will last? >> probably through the next nuclear war. about 100 years. >> reporter: there is now a
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petition to the white house to nationalize the twinkie industry and, quote, prevent our nation from losing our sweet, creamy center. 25,000 total needed. twinkies are being offered for thousands of dollars on craigslist and ebay. hostess is as american as apple pie, so you are you going to call? >> it would be a twinkie 35 feet long wearing approximately 600 pounds. >> that's a big twinkie. >> yo, ding dong, man. ding dong, yo. >> reporter: all right. the hope is that somebody will buy these assets and recipes, guys, and not let the ding dong die. back to you. >> is that box spoken for? >> reporter: yes. >> i thought so. >> reporter: on ebay shortly. >> jane wells, thank you. >> resist, resist. okay. who is to blame for the death of the twinkie?
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is it the union or the company? >> now to the labor issue. justin wilson at the center for union facts says the union leaders themselves pves put themselves in front of the need of the workers. i welcome both of you. let's be on first-name basis, if we can for the next few minutes. heather, i guess the question people would ask is why the union would allow -- i mean, did the company call your bluff on this whole thing? you know, even if it's a bad deal, isn't that better than no job at all? >> first, thanks for having me on the show. i really appreciate the opportunity to come on and talk about these incredibly important issues. i think something that's really important to keep in mind here is that this is a company that's been struggling financially for quite some time now. the company had $2.5 billion in revenue last year, but because it was servicing $1 billion in debt, it suffered a $341 million loss. this is a company that's been having economic problems for quite some time. the workers gave up huge concessions when the company
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came out of bankruptcy just a few years ago. the company hasn't been paying into the workers' pension funds for quite some time now. still, the company could not get itself on target. >> so it was enough is enough. that's the line, right? >> i think what we need to be looking at right now is that these workers were sitting across from management as workers across this country have done year in and year out in recent years and the workers were basically told by the wall street investors, look, you need to take what we're offering you and be grateful. i don't care if you can't pay your bills or send your kids to college. i think we should be applauding these workers for standing up for their right to remain in the middle clatss. >> totally understand that. justin, i think a lot of people would argue that a job with maybe lower benefits or lower benefits is better than no job at all. was the union putting its own interests before that of its workers? >> absolutely. you know, there's 18,000 people
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who are not going to have a job on monday because some union leaders didn't even let them go to a vote on whether or not they wanted to strike. now they're going to be jobless and going through the holiday season. if you think about hostess and its history with labor, it had more than 370 collective bargaining agreements. that was on their balance sheet, and no one wanted to take it on. >> but wait a minute, justin. isn't it possible they're still going to work out some sort of a deal? they just asking for permission to liquidate at this point. number two, they could sell these assets, and these workers could have a job if they're making these things for somebody else. isn't that possible? >> what's clear is there's no buyer for the company as a continuing operation. >> he asserted that the workers
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did not have an opportunity to vote on this contract. that's absolutely not true. 92% of the workers -- >> the press release yesterday demanded the secret ballot vote. >> 92% of the workers voted against this contract. >> come on. that's not a vote. the teamsters themselves lost their jobs and supported management on this. they demanded a secret ballot vote yesterday. there's no way democracy occurred here. >> look, 92% of these workers voted in opposition to this contract. they were being squeezed by management. they stood up for themselves and said no, i deserve a fair day's pay for a good day's work. so they were standing up for their rights. i think we should applaud them for doing that. >> we shouldn't applaud them. we should feel bad the union led them into this. the union seemed to perpetuate this idea there would be some white horse riding in at the last moment to save this american brands. >> heather, do you think the union is willing to compromise
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now to try and get a deal done as bill was saying? maybe there's a hope here. >> the question is, do these 18,500 workers feel as noble collectively as you believe they are? >> the union is responding to the interests of the working people and to the vote of the workers. >> unions are out of touch with workers when it comes to issues like this. this is the worst case scenario. everyone is out of a job, including the ceo. the union was the one who walked over the cliff. >> no. >> we're out of time. i'll give the last word to heather with the question i asked. we're talking about the livelihood of 18,000 work who are are not rich and live paycheck to paycheck. now they face being out of a job. do they feel good about themselves? >> i think we need to go back to the point you made earlier in this segment. that's the fact that people are rushing out to the stores to buy twinkies right now. this is an incredibly valuable brand. it's an american icon. somebody is going to pick this up. the workers who are there day in and day out who know this business, are going to be there to continue making twinkies when somebody comes in to take their
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place. >> we certainly hope for their sake. thank you, both. >> the ceo told cnbc he's hopeful they'll find a buyer. thank you, both. >> thank you. $30 million and counting. that is how much the final "twilight" movie has already grossed since its release last night. >> our julia boorstin is up next with the estimates of what receipts could look like when the weekend is over. plus, the lionsgate trade on the other side of the break as well. stay tuned. uh, i'm in a timeout because apparently
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well, "twilight" fans turning out in force for the latest film in the blockbuster franchise. julia boorstin has more details. >> taking a real bite out of the box office. the fifth and final "twilight" is on track to be the biggest yet. "breaking down part two" grossed $34 million at thursday night screenings. that's the third u.s. biggest opening ever, putting it on that to gross $135 million this weekend. we can expect the biggest ever turnout for the grand if i fall
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lee. oversea where is the film will open in over 60 60 territories weekend, it's off to a stronger start. grossing $14 million in a single day in half a dozen territories on wednesday. setting records for the year in both italy and france. the big winner here is lionsgate which brought summit for $12 million in cash and stock, this solidifies its position as the leader for films based on young adult fiction. theater chains regal, cinemark and carmike, is targeted to leave box ostss up 15% over last year. this according to mkm partners analyst eric handler. blockbuster performance is br d branding wins for partners. jamba juice and hot topic sell as range of "twilight"-branded merchandise. a big winner drives more people
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back to the book, which is published by little brown. now lionsgate is trying to figure out how to squeeze yet another film out of the franchise. >> why stop at five? julia, thank you very much. now that we've seen the box office results, how are traders looking to play lionsgate? let's find out from brian stutland. managing member of stutland group. what's the trade on lionsgate? >> we saw one big institutional investor. probably someone managing $100 million or more. the sheer notional size of the trade, they're willing to take a shot to the upside. there's true success to the "twilight," we're near the beginning of the end for "twilight." the question is, hunger gaims, the next one coming object board, do we get more upside? willing to get long about 60,000 shares above 17 with the break-even being at about 17.29.
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we're seeing some bullish activity. that it continues to roll over, lionsgate continues to be in a good position going forward. with all the creation that "twilight" has been able to do for the company. >> the stock is up 82% year to date. stay tuned for options action, because famed investor. jeffrey gumdlach who predicted apple's decline will be up on options action. coming up, putting the world's poor on solid financial ground. >> we speak with the head of a microfinance firm next about his organization's mission to turn poverty into profits. [ male announcer ] trading's like a high-speed train. and you don't want to miss it with thinkorswim by td ameritrade. you get knock-your-socks-off tools, simple one-click orders, real-time paper trading to hone your skills, plus anytime you need it support.
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profiting from poverty, it sounds horrible, but it can be actually a good thing. our next guest runs axion, a global nonprofit organization, whose mission is to give people financial tools they need to escape poverty. a firm just acquired by private equity firm bamboo finance. >> the for-profit company has helped build 63 micro finance firms in 31 countries and has
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loaned almost $8 billion to those in poverty. let's bring in michael schlein, president and ceo of axion. tell us about briefly about the work in microfinance and how our viewers can get in this and invest in this area if they want? >> terrific, thank you, it's a pleasure to be with you. axion is a nonprofit that's built 63 microfinance institutions in 31 countries on four continents and today they serve millions people in poverty and help to meet their needs. we created a fund, accion fund, 15.6 return. not only a great return, but also we've had a significant social impact. >> put it on the ground for us. who do you invest in, then? give us an example? >> we have built, this fund in particular has helped build a dozen great microfinance institutions around the world. including operations in peru,
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banco sol in bolivia. >> and who does that benefit, then? >> people living in poverty. our clients are among the poorest in the world, living on less than $2 a day. we make microloans and help with other financial services that people living in poverty really need. the importance of today's announcement is not only can you help people living in poverty. but you can do it in a way that also makes a healthy financial return. >> can i just back up for a second. why is the fund closing? why do you want to close the fund? and will what will accion's role be after the sale actually closes? >> great question. we tapped the private capital markets in order to tap the private capital markets, you need to provide an exit. so that's what we're doing ten years after the fund was created. accion continues with its work all around the world, we're trying to build a financially inclusive world today. microfinance reaches 200 million clients. but there are 2.5 billion people living in poverty who lack access to financial services.
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so there's much more work to do. >> getting back to a question mandy asked earlier, how do individual investors get involved? can they? >> absolutely. accion is a nonprofit. we're a charitable organization, so donating and working with us is very important. more than that, there are opportunities to co-invest in some of these institutions. we also run a guarantee fund. more than that, it would be terrific if people would come and get to know our work, but also travel and see what life in poverty is really like and where a small amount of money can make a very significant difference. >> what are the risks of investing in this area? >> well obviously this is, we are investing in very risky areas. these are nigeria and bolivia and ecuador and nicaragua are places where we do business and that's where poverty is. so we do need investors and partner who is recognize a ten to 12-year time horizon and with a strong appetite for risk? >> michael schlein, we applaud
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that, especially this time of the season. thank you very much with the fund. here's a look at the day on wall street, it was option and futures exploration day. volatility, lots of volume. when all is said and done on an otherwise down week, it was an up day. up 45 points on the dow, the nasdaq gained 16 points. that by the way is in correction territory right now. meaning it's 10% off the recent highs and the s&p is up 6.5 points for the day at 1359. mandy, as we all know, it's still all about the fiscal cliff. >> you know it's funny you should say that, because i've been reading twitter during the ad breaks, it seems there's some appetite out there for the market to remain open on the weekends. not that it would ever happen. just putting it out there, to remain open on the weekends, all the way up until we do get a deal reached. because everybody wants to be able to participate. >> that would be fun. good to have you with us, thanks,

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